If You Had Been Here

You would have had a sucky ass run on Friday morning. You would have been discouraged that the intervals that had been so easy on Wednesday instead on Friday each felt like a marathon. You would have chalked it up to experience and decided that today’s run will be better.

If you had been with me this weekend . . .

You would have celebrated your friend Anne’s birthday. You would have had wine and pizza and chocolate cake.

On the way home from the party you would have found an injured deer by the side of the road. You would have gotten very upset and cried about her plight and you would have sat in the car while your husband and a police officer tried to find her and help her. You would have wondered for a long time afterwards whether she survived or not.

If you had been with me this weekend . . .

You would have gone to the Kaffe Stuga at the First Lutheran Church with your girlfriends, Anne, Jo-Ann and Sharon. You would have taught your friends all about Swedish food and you would have bought a few Christmas presents along with some Swedish rye bread and cardamom bread and meatballs. You would have enjoyed a wonderful lunch complete with open faced medwurst sandwiches and tea sandwiches and Swedish desserts. You would have eaten too much and reveled in knowing that being Swedish at Christmas time is a wonderful thing to be.

If you had been with me this weekend . . .

You would have relaxed in your new den Saturday night. You would have listened to music with your husband and your daughter and you would have cheerfully argued about your favorite Beatles song. You would have introduced your daughter to Prairie Home Companion radio and explained Swedish jokes to her. You would have eaten pheasant that your husband had provided.

If you had been with me this weekend . . .

You would have gotten up Sunday morning and written a blog post about the day ahead of you. You would have made breakfast with the eggs that your friend Sharon brought you. And you would have had toasted Swedish limpa bread with your eggs.

You would have gone for a drive to one of your favorite summer spots. You would not have gotten out of the car at the beach because . . . wind. But you would have enjoyed the scenery and the very large woodpeckers. And the company.

You would have come home and had bourbon and snacks and watched Homeland by the fire.

You would have watched the Pats completely trounce the Colts. And you would have stayed up too late.

I’m so glad I was with you for two of those wonderful things, glad I was not with you to encounter the poor little deer, and wishing we could have watched the Patriots game with you – but those 8:30 games are ~killer~ (at least it had a great outcome)! A delightful weekend all around.

Haha….I got totally worm out reading about your weekend! sounds like you had a great one. I can’t think of anything better than spending time with close friends and beloved family. So nice to have Hannah close for a little longer. My son went away for college and stayed away for 8-1/2 years. It was torture. Now he lives 3 miles away and I am in heaven.

I would have loved to be with you this weekend, and we could have comforted each other over the deer episode. I’m so sorry you had to go through something so traumatic. But, your weekend sounds amazing and fun, full of food, family and friends!

Either you would fit in here or I would fit in there…I’m Norwegian and my MIL was Swedish…I recognized most of the Swedish foods you talked about. Yummy! There is a recipe for cardamom rolls that I should make again…it’s been years. It was my MIL’s recipe…
Sounds like a fine weekend!